Been an interesting year for auteur directors making social upheaval films. From Alex Garland’s “Civil War” to Ari Aster’s “Eddington” to PTA’s “On Battle After Another”.
I really like all three directors but have not watched any of these films. Reading NC and keeping up with current events – and just existing in our current society – is enough of that subject for me. Not looking for a cinematic version of it at the movies.
Was talking with a feisty 80+ year old woman while in Amsterdam last week. She asked why I was there and I said I was doing video work for a corporate client. She replied, “That’s stupid. Don’t do stupid work in our country. Go home and do good work to fix your stupid country.”
It got me thinking about not just the work I’m doing but what I have done. What I can do. I’ve tried to make films that unify, bridge divides, and offer positive visions of our humanity. That few have seen them is not the main concern. What concerns me is how media that divides and perpetuates negative visions of humanity saturate our landscape. Chicken or the egg: does negative media create our negative society or vice versa? The old “if it bleeds it leads” mentality?
Went to see Abby Martin’s new film “Earth’s Greatest Enemy” last night. Happy to support her stellar work. But couldn’t help noticing it was an echo chamber audience. I’d be willing to bet not a single mind was changed in that theater.
That’s what I love about Naked Capitalism. Every day we get a cross section of news and opinions to digest and see real in real time as debates go down in the comments. Open minds meeting each other respectfully to engage in ideas and facts. Sure, it can be depressing but such is life. It is also hopeful because it shows growth and change is possible.
That’s what I want to bring more to in my own work and see in the work of others. And why I have no interest in Hollywood tales of division and unrest even if made by the best filmmakers in the business. Give me Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof‘s “There is No Evil” (one of the greatest films of the past decade in my opinion) any day over that stuff. Maybe no one will watch it (I don’t know anyone else whose seen that film, and as I said, few have seen my own films) but I’d rather create and support positive visions of humanity and unity then more divisiveness.
But that’s just me. To each their own.
Source link
